possible to repair shower flow control lever

creedp

I installed a Triton Felice mixer shower just over 5 years ago. A couple of months back the flow control lever broke and I tried everywhere to find a replacement to no avail. I contacted Triton UK, as that shower model was not sold in Ireland, only to be told parts are no longer made for the model and the shower is effectively obsolete.

Unsurprisingly I am not very happy with this situation. This was a reasonably expensive shower and has got little use. Now for the sake of a €30 metal lever the shower is obsolete and requires replacing along with the cost and disruption of redecorating the bathroom which is something I would love to avoid.

The problem with the lever relates to a metal ridge on the inside of the lever in which slots into another metal ridge that adjusts the flow control cartridge. Sorry Im making a mess of this description!

Anyway what Im trying to figure out is if its possible to successfully repair a metal lever like this - for instance could it be welded? Alternatively is it possible for an engineering company to build a replacement lever? Basically anything other than spending big money on a replacement shower with the added cost and hassle of removing a shower enclosure, tiles and chasing wall to accommodate pipes for new shower.

Thanks for all advice.

Sleeper12

Triton supply parts for showers for a minimum of 7 years after they stop making them so the shower was discontinued when you bought it. The supplier should have told you this & should have discounted it accordingly as it was probably 5 years out of date by the time you bought it.
Have you tried showerdoc.com or other UK shower spare suppliers they might have something left on a shelf

Edit : if all else fails triton should have a current model to replace the old one without messing with the tiles. When they do change models they tend to keep the same pipe spacings etc

Sleeper12

This is where Mira outshine Triton. Mira still stock parts for showers made over 30 years ago. They are ridiculously priced parts but at least you have the option of buying it.

Water John

If its two parts of metal you want to bond together you could try, Sugru.

creedp

Water John wrote: »

If its two parts of metal you want to bond together you could try, Sugru.

The lever itself is not cracked. Its a hollow cylindrical piece of metal with 2 parallel ridges on the inside into which a metal ridge attached to the flow control cartridge slots. Turning the lever then moves the flow control cartridge. The problem is one of the parallel ridges has sheered off and it no longer grips the flow control ridge so you cant adjust the flow control.

I was wondering if there was any way a metal fabricator could replace the ridge or maybe fabricate a new lever? Is it possible to work with metal used in these levers?

Sleeper12

You can wrap gas tap or ptfe around the part the lever slots into it won't be a permanent solution but might last a few weeks while you track down a part

Water John

Sugru, isn't just a glue. I think you could fashion the piece out of it and then put it on.
Have never used it yet myself but it seems to have a lot of applications.
Invented by a Kilkenny girl.

It's related to ptfe AFAIK, which is a fascinating plastic.

Sleepy

This came up on showerspares.com when you entered the details of the felice into their search:

https://www.showerspares.com/search/triton_diverter_assembly_83314040/

Might be worth contacting them to confirm it matches your model?

The search engine: https://www.showerspares.com/triton_shower_spares/triton_mixer_showers/

Shower Doc has a range of sparce for the felice too?

https://www.showerdoc.com/search?ss=felice

creedp

Sleepy wrote: »

This came up on showerspares.com when you entered the details of the felice into their search:

https://www.showerspares.com/search/triton_diverter_assembly_83314040/

Might be worth contacting them to confirm it matches your model?

The search engine: https://www.showerspares.com/triton_shower_spares/triton_mixer_showers/

Shower Doc has a range of sparce for the felice too?

https://www.showerdoc.com/search?ss=felice

Thanks for the links. I have emailed Shower Spares with a query about the part I require but have not yet received a response. Looking at the links it seems there are a number of showers that are compatible with the Felice inlet mounting bracket which has a 60mm space between the inlet pipe centres. However, it seems that there are very limited parts for all these showers and that even when parts for the various showers are listed they are later categorised as discontinued.

I have to say the various websites are difficult to navigate and actually understand what is or is not available. Its also difficult to understand how there could be so many shower models available from triton with some parts compatible across many models while others specific to a single model. I wish now that I installed a simple electric shower which would last for years and could be easily fixed.

At this stage I would be delighted if I could purchase an alternative vertical mixer shower that would fit the existing inlet mounting bracket as it would avoid a whole lot of hassle for me.

I will follow up with Shower Spares to see if I can get clarification on whether they have compatible parts for the felice flow control lever.

I have previously been in contact with Showerdoc but to no success. However, it might be worthwhile going back again to see if parts from an alternative shower model would be compatible with the felice lever.

Thanks again for your and others assistance

mickdw

Surely there is a diy solution to this. Any photos?
I'd surely put something together if this shower was in front of me.

creedp

mickdw wrote: »

Surely there is a diy solution to this. Any photos?
I'd surely put something together if this shower was in front of me.

Attached below are 2 pictures of lever. Hopefully the damaged 'ridge' can by seen clearly as my camera phone isn't great.

Triton Lever 1.jpg

Triton Lever 2.jpg

mickdw

right.
what about cutting alittle track out of that at the location of the damaged Ridge with a hacksaw. fashion a piece of metal from a washer or some such and fix it in place with liquid metal or some good 2 pack glue. file down new metal til it works nice.
Failing that I'd attempt a full repair with only liquid metal, again filing it down to nice shape when hardened. cutting some slots to roughen surface might improve bond.
I imagine the forces are not huge given the style of the lever. Would the controller that this operates have got overly stiff or anything to cause this damage?

creedp

mickdw wrote: »

right.
what about cutting alittle track out of that at the location of the damaged Ridge with a hacksaw. fashion a piece of metal from a washer or some such and fix it in place with liquid metal or some good 2 pack glue. file down new metal til it works nice.
Failing that I'd attempt a full repair with only liquid metal, again filling it down to nice shape when hardened. cutting some slots to roughen surface might improve bond.
I imagine the forces are not huge given the style of the lever. Would the controller that this operates have got overly stiff or anything to cause this damage?

Thanks for suggestions. I'm not the best at this stuff .. never even heard of liquid metal! Any time in the past I have attempted these kind of repairs the results have been disappointing. My problem with this job is that if it fails I will get a bolllicking for not just replacing the shower .. I'm already under pressure to get it sorted as its been out of commission for a while and there's a family event coming up in the next few weeks in which a crowd will be staying in house so shower must be working properly by then or Im for the gallows!!

Now that you mention it, the flow control unit does seem overly stiff in that it is impossible to move it by hand without the aid of the lever. Im wondering if limescale has caused some damage as I had big problems with hard water until I installed a water softener last year.

I should really open up the flow control unit as see if this can be sorted. Maybe then the repair might last. One thing that annoys me about the plumbing in the house is that there are no shut off valves anywhere so I would have to turn off water to entire house, remove shower and cap pipes before I could look at it properly. Unfortunately patience in running thin with these DIY efforts!!

Thanks again

quietsailor

If you are going to open up the shower and need to turn off & then drain down your water system think of getting isolation valves fitted as soon as the drain down is finished. THat way you can immediately turn the water to the rest of the house back on and take your time examining the shower.

Now you can try opening up the unit and seeing if it's damaged or dirty inside, if it's fixable/cleanable then good, you can also fix the handle as mickdw suggested. If it looks like too big a job you can go buy a new one and fit it without having to bother people draining down the whole system.